Skip to Content.
Sympa Menu

gwl-g - Re: [gwl-g] Selling plants and Potting Soil

gwl-g@lists.ibiblio.org

Subject: gardenwriters-on-gardening

List archive

Chronological Thread  
  • From: "bbmackey" <bbmackey@prodigy.net>
  • To: "gardenwriters-on-gardening" <gwl-g@lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [gwl-g] Selling plants and Potting Soil
  • Date: Thu, 28 Apr 2005 11:55:27 -0400

This is a great fund raiser, Melanie, but it sounds like you are doing it alone.
 
My own local independent garden club, The Community Garden Club at Wayne, has an annual plant sale to raise money for a scholarship and also some of our operating expenses such as those big speaker fees we all charge (but not as much as a new horn). 
 
I have been running the plants-from-our-gardens portion for years (we also have a bake sale and sell nursery-grown geraniums) and have enlisted club members to help in several ways. We have two potting sessions, one in fall and one in spring. One member (not me this year, for once!) gets the potting soil, donated pots, worktable, etc set up. A number of members come, bringing their unpotted donations such as big old clumps of hosta that must be surgically separated and repotted, and other garden goodies, aiming for things that look nice or are in bloom in the beginning of May when the sale is held. Also, people pot things up at home (it's a garden club so they know how) and bring them with nametags and prices already on them.  Duh!  It took me years to figure out to make everyone do that!  I even wrote up guidelines. Until I did this, I ran around like a lunatic on plant sale day trying to label everything everyone else had brought, with early-bird customers trying to buy it all as members carried it to the sale area.("We're not open yet!!")
 
Members who used to have gardens but now are in apartments come over for fun and to help with the potting, along with others. As the saying goes, many hands make light the work! However, we know the story -- it is always certain members who do the most while others get a free ride.
 
My group is a good bit older, so there is no reason why the band people can't come over to your place, Melanie, and do a lot of the work. Also your prices seem a bit low. You could even call it a garden seminar on how to divide perennials and charge admission!!
 
If these band parents are all too busy, there may be other community members who would like to help.
 
Sandie's point about getting donated equipment and potting soil from stores is great. A few phone calls may do it. Some of these places have bags of peat moss or other stuff that has a hole or split in the packaging -- they may be throwing it away but they could give it to you for a tax credit.
 
My neigborhood here is old and overly shaded, so some of our plant-sale winners in May are hostas, Phlox stolonifera, primroses, Stylophorum diphylla (yellow wood poppy), ferns of all sorts, and forget-me-nots.
 
My group's sale this year is at St. Mary's church in Wayne PA on May 7, 8 am to 1 pm.
 
With best wishes,
Betty
 
Betty Mackey, Publisher
B. B. Mackey Books
P. O. Box 475
Wayne, PA 19087
bbmackey@prodigy.net
www.mackeybooks.com
 
 
----- Original Message -----
From: Melanie
Sent: Thursday, April 28, 2005 8:38 AM
Subject: [gwl-g] Selling plants and Potting Soil

For many years I gave away trunk loads of perennials from my garden. Last year I finally potted them up and had a one day plant sale here. 50% of the proceeds from the daylilies and 100 % of the proceeds from all other perennials was donated to the local high school marching band. The Band made $1600 and I made about $500.
 
This year there will be less daylilies for sale as I have to leave my clumps undisturbed until after next years convention of the American Hemerocallis Society (to be held here on Long Island). I can easily pot up 300 to 400 perennials without making a dent in the garden and am in the process of doing so. 100% of all profits will go to the band since I found out $2,000 is barely enough to buy one horn.
 



Archive powered by MHonArc 2.6.24.

Top of Page